Members of the Colts’ top brass are on the hot seat, and this upcoming 2025 draft class is an opportunity to either right the ship or find themselves going overboard.
According to NFL.com’s Eric Eholm, the Indianapolis Colts are among the NFL teams that must ace their upcoming NFL Draft class:
5. Indianapolis Colts
Total draft picks: 7
Indianapolis is playing up a Daniel Jones-Anthony Richardson QB battle this summer, and fans are seemingly ambivalent about the idea. If this is what it takes to coax out Richardson’s immense talent, and it works, that’s outstanding. But the Colts have to improve the offense around whichever quarterback wins that job.
You could reasonably argue Indy needs at least some help at every offensive position. The Colts have a full lot of picks, but no additional ones, and their first-rounder sits at No. 14. If they stay there, a lot of their top options might be off the board. The top tight end (Tyler Warren) could be gone. Two or three offensive linemen could go before that, with a starting job open at right guard. The draft should provide help for them at edge rusher and running back, but don’t forget the need at linebacker, too.
Chris Ballard is already facing some pressure amid Richardson’s stalled development, and the Colts have been stuck in the decent-but-hardly-great category for most of the general manager’s tenure. The team generally has drafted respectably, but there have been few home run picks since the Jonathan Taylor-Michael Pittman Jr. class in 2020. Ballard really could use a strong haul — not to mention Richardson winning the job — this year.
He’s not necessarily wrong here either.
Colts longtime general manager is going on his ninth season for Indianapolis—which is an eternity for an NFL GM without any division titles and just one playoff win.
The 2025 season is shaping up to be a ‘make-or-break’ season for both him and head coach Shane Steichen because if they don’t find meaningful success this year (i.e, a playoff berth), it feels like there will be an arguably already overdue changing of the guard next offseason.
Ballard has had a pair of ‘home run’ draft classes, namely his prior Colts’ 2018 and 2020 draft classes, but outside of them, it’s been largely a lot of mediocrity relatively speaking.
The Colts season will likely rest on the success of its starting quarterbacks: Anthony Richardson or Daniel Jones, and it makes sense that Indianapolis could look to surround either with a playmaker at tight end such as Penn State’s Tyler Warren or Michigan’s Colston Loveland near midway through the first round, currently having the 14th overall pick.
If neither are there though, the Colts could look to trade down to gain more value and look to plug their biggest remaining roster holes: tight end, right guard, and linebacker later on with additional draft capital to work with.
Most importantly though, the Colts have to get it right—or its decision-makers will be out.